
- GET THINGS DONE, FAST.
- ALWAYS BE IN CONTROL.
- TRUST NO ONE.
- MISTAKES ARE UNFORGIVEABLE AND COULD MEAN A LAWSUIT.
Could all this end in disaster?
Everything fell apart and my partners and I were wracked with all kinds of doubts and problems. So we took a time-out. For 2 months we went about our usual lives and did…nothing. During that time there were days I was so resentful and frustrated and wished I was back in my comfy old’ job, working like crazy but at least with the certainty I would walk a certain path. On other days I would read online articles and have a close to nervous breakdown from the amount of new trends and information about starting a business which I could not finish reading, and wearied myself bitterly envying the people (I read about) who somehow had managed to start a successful business with 30 chains and another 50 on the way before they turned 30.I realized how little I knew.
So I read and learned and observed and reflected, and as weeks went by I learned to wait and I learned to be okay with waiting. I began to feel a reassuring certainty: This wasn’t failure. This is really only the beginning. I came to peace with the idea that I might have to shelve my dreams of grandeur for the moment and start from square 1 with a day job and simply watch and learn. Keep myself updated, talk to people and keep my eyes and ears open. Not every successful entrepreneur started out like Mark Zuckerberg to become a billionaire in his twenties. Still, it doesn’t mean one can’t succeed if you’re past 30. 2 months later, things suddenly moved again, unexpectedly. We got offered a rent-free venue to start our first store, and although it changed our initial plan completely, somehow we were convicted that it was a perfect fit. I abandoned my initial high-capital business plan and scaled down the model such that it was easier for us to take on with minimal initial financing, and broke it up into stages and milestones so we could pace ourselves – given our lack of business experience. I realized that things for some reason seemed to move the most when I stopped trying to arrange, plan and control everything, and when I admitted that I really didn’t know much about doing business after all. Letting go (something which does not come naturally to me) helped me to step back and see that we would not be destined to fail if we did not open by Christmas or if we over-spent on cups; and it helped me to enjoy the process more. Contrary to what I learned and held as values as an attorney and had tried to take away with me, I now realize that in the larger journey of life it IS okay to make mistakes, it IS okay to go slow, and that we CANNOT always be in control. **** As things stand right now, things are still moving slowly and surely, and everyday we are a little closer to the goal. I am working for my husband’s business while setting up my own, and I have no clue what I will be doing 2 months from now. But I am okay with that. It is only the beginning, and my time would comeRebecca Chang is a former attorney and co-founder of a start-up social enterprise in Tanzania which seeks to empower unemployed Tanzanian women through fair wage jobs and skills-training in the art of hand-roasting coffee beans and the creation of coffee beverages.